The present invention relates to a water-in-oil type emulsified fat and/or oil composition which is utilized preferably and suitably in a margarine, a fat spread, a shortening etc.
As people are health-oriented in recent years, a product being low-calorie- and low-oil-content-type is desired for a margarine or a fat spread.
In general, the method for lowering an oil content includes raising the ratio of an aqueous phase to provide a water-in-oil type emulsified fat and/or oil composition which is a high content of water-containing type. However, when usual fats and oils of triglycerides are used in the oil phase, the emulsified state becomes unstable with an increasing ratio of the aqueous phase. Thus, in during the production step, the aqueous phase tends to separate from the oil phase in a mixing tank for the aqueous at the step of preliminary emulsification and oil phases and the phase reversal from W/O to O/W tends to occur. Further, oozing of water and oil-off is caused during storage. When bulk-handling is carried out, the emulsification is destroyed, and separation, decay or the like of the aqueous is carried out thereby. Therefore, a product exhibiting a satisfied performance could not be obtained.
To solve these disadvantages, methods for using various emulsifiers such as a sucrose fatty acid ester (JP-B 56-10014), a glycerol fatty acid ester (U.S. Pat. No. 3,889,005) and a polyglycerol fatty acid ester (JP-A 58-170432) have been proposed.
However, when the above-mentioned emulsifier is used, although the water-in-oil type emulsified fat and/or oil composition which is a high content of water-containing type can be produced, the obtained product is badly stable by the day during storage so that water oozes and the emulsification is destroyed upon spreading, therefore the following separation of the aqueous phase is generated.
Meanwhile, various methods for blending a large amount of diglycerides (glycerol di-fatty-acid esters) with the oil phase to solve the above-described disadvantages have also been proposed in, for example, JP-A 63-301743, JP-A 61-63242, WO 95/22257, WO 96/32022 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,735.
Although a stable water-in-oil type emulsified fat and/or oil composition can be produced by these methods, the product is worsened in viewpoint of the physical property during storage. Then, the product is made to be crumbly and so on, it is poor in feeling on eating, and its spread ability is not satisfied.
The present inventors developed a water-in-oil type emulsified fat and/or oil composition of which emulsification is stable in spite of containing a high content of water and which is excellent in physical properties and feeling on eating during storage.
The present invention provides an water-in-oil type emulsified fat and/or oil composition which is composed of (1) the oil phase comprising 35 to 95% by weight, based on the total oils and fats, of a diglyceride(s) having its increasing melting point of lower than 20xc2x0 C. and the balance of triglycerides having fatty acid parts comprising 13 to 60% by weight of palmitic acid and 5% by weight or less of fatty acids having 12 or less carbon atoms, polymorph of the triglycerides being stable in the form of xcex2xe2x80x2 and (2) the aqueous phase based on water. Thus, the above-mentioned problem of the prior art has been solved.